Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Malcolm Gladwell On Genius

Found this interesting video on The New Yorker's site, it's Malcolm Gladwell speaking on genius. His premise is that there are (at least?) two different kinds of geniuses, one is the type who may arrive at genius via an incredible inimitable moment of inspiration, another is someone who's very smart and arrives at genius after years of focused study.

I may be a little off on the details there, because I grabbed the link a few weeks back and I can't rewatch the video now. But his "point to help the world" was certainly that we should care more about educating the populace at large such that we have more "very smart" people that can apply themselves to the big problems/challenges in life.

This sort of pigeontails with my theory on genius, that being that we shouldn't view it as a skill or trait that an individual possesses, but more a zone or a place that we enter and leave. Genius, as I see it, is almost like falling in love. We all have the capacity for it, and perhaps some are more predisposed to fall than others, but everyone has their moments.

The real takeaway was Gladwell noting that studies show 100,000 hours of focused study is what's needed to become a master of something. And this translates to about ten years (actually 11.5, but thereabouts).

This makes a lot of sense to me and gives an interesting fixed boundary to work with. If you start working a job at 22, and stay there for ten years, at 32 you should be a master. And filmmakers and artists who start at 20, may hit their stride at 30. And of course you can accelerate or slow down the process according to how much you want to focus. And it highlights how you inhibit your potential in one fieldby spreading yourself across many fields. The phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" speaks directly to this 100,000 hours theory.

So now I'm trying to log my hours spent doing music, or writing songs, or blogging, or my other creative/professional interests. And I'm becoming more conscious of the time I spend doing things. Like, I'm already a master at drinking now, so I can focus my attention on other stuff. Like sex maybe. I might need more hours there.

How about you? In what field are your genius/master hours logged? Where do you need to log more?

100,000 Hours To Genius [New Yorker]

Monday, May 21, 2007

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Penthouse: How To Have Sex With A Racist

So I mentioned before I'd be giving you a reason to pick up Penthouse for the articles. Well that time has come as my "How To Have Sex With A Racist" piece is in this month's (June) issue of Penthouse magazine. It's the "Summer Blast-Off" edition, with the denim-frosted booty on the cover, kind of like the picture you see on the right but magazine sized.

Bonus 1: You'll notice that in conjunction with this fine woman's behind, and the five other pieces listed, I'm right on the cover (next to the red Plus). TAN. Moves. Units. I bet they wondered if they even needed the mouth-watering shot of a female's hindquarters this month.

Bonus 2: byline, The Assimilated Negro

I haven't received mine yet (ahem!), so I don't know how it came out in final. I see they changed "Have Sex With" to "Hit," which I haven't used as a sexual verb in a while. But I guess it's punchier (cough), and should draw in the sexual sadist and/or militant black crowd. Yes!

Anycooch, so yeah: sex! racism! together! penthouse! buy! read! now!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Let's Play Find The Negro In This College Humor Video

I like College Humor, I was a contributing writer for them a little over a year ago (not long after starting TAN) and felt a pang of regret about not shoehorning myself into the mix more after IAC showered them with money. And then I saw this video and the pang turned into a wave cause it looks like all the black people are having TONS o FUN in the office:


Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger


OMG!! That video is AWESOME: great song, perfect execution. Seriously. It's almost as fun as college was!! But to emulate the real college experience, you need to get at least one token negro on the side feeling excluded because he's poor, not skinny-and-white (skwite?), and doesn't know the words to Flagpole Sitta. Ideally you'd have two black guys just talking to themselves on the side throughout the video. That would make it PERFECT ... and also, you know, college-humorous.

Friday, May 18, 2007

SoHo Knows: RIP Jerry Falwell

Did you know Jerry Falwell died this week? Oh, you didn't care? Well pour a little latte out for your boy anyways, the kids on Crosby did:


First Responders [Gawker]

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Visualizing The Numbers

Discovered this stunning photo exhibit via Gawker. As the artist Chris Jordan explains on his site, "This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books."

It's an impressive series from an artist with other impressive work in his portfolio. Do check it out. And buy me a print while you're at it.



Running The Numbers [chrisjordan]

Nah Negro: Ottoman Orgy Edition

Sometimes I've wondered if a "Cracka Crackdown" feature is unfair to crackas. After all, black people do things that deserve being called out also. Well after seeing this video below I'm torn no longer. In addition to the crackdown, we will now occasionally shine the light on some black folk and say, "nah negro, chill with that." But the "chill with that" part will be silent.

So I don't know if these kids hung out with these pot-smokers, or maybe they're all in the same family with this young aspiring homosexual, or maybe I just missed the meeting where we got together and decided this was something that was cool and fun. But nah negroes, nah.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Cracka Crackdown: Baby Served By Breakdancer Edition

You may have appropriated hip hop, but that doesn't mean your babies can just go wandering into our breakdancing circles without suffering the consequences:

What Does GOOD Magazine Know About Porn?

Apparently enough to make an excellent factoid video on the subject of internet porn. Well done boys (and girl!).

Top 25 Hip Hop Albums

posting has been light/sporadic because TAN is moving and there are a myriad of kung-fu bosses distracting me from writing/avenging the death of my teacher with karate chops to my neck. But rest assured your Old Faithful geyser of piping hot content will again be spouting profusely soon enough. Those of you who have emailed me: know that my heart beats with your blood. Or something like that. I love you!

In the meantime, in between time, be sure to check out the end results of Straight Bangin's research on the Top 25 hip hop albums.

The 25 Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time [straight bangin']

Friday, May 11, 2007

SoHo Knows: Free Paris Hilton!

Yesterday Richard and I were privileged enough to gain access to the citizen action event of the year, the Free Paris Hilton rally.

While TMZ ended up at the wrong place and missed out on all the "sizzle," the media still outnumbered the rallyers by a score of 10-5 or so. I think the best part was the German TV crew wearing Save Darfur shirts at the Free Paris rally. I think whomever this Darfur chick is, she needs to chill out and wait until Paris is free before making her own t-shirts and stuff. Word. That's hot!



First Responders [Gawker]

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Penis Power

this video has been taken down a few times, but seems to be back for good now. Its a classic, and provides all you need to know on male-female relations. I'm also considering making a book of quotations from Alexyss Taylor.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Akin To Jordan

This pic has been circulating around the internets. Mildly amusing candid of King Jordan:


It makes one want to flash back to 1992, when we all wanted to be "Like Mike" Akin to Jordan.
(nod to stereohyped for putting this in my head)

Friday, May 04, 2007

SoHo Knows: Spiderman Opening

In a slow news week, Richard and I shot our webs hoping to ensnare some SoHites who were excited for the first blockbuster movie of the summer. Results below:


First Responders [Gawker]

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Funny Movie Trailers

Waahhh, I want to make funny movie trailer parodies too! Waddup Richard!!

Glen & Gary & Glen & Ross


10 Things I Hate About Commandments


Must Love Jaws

Alec Baldwin Doesn't Act, He Lives

In the wake of all the Alec Baldwin cursing out his child hubbub, this great scene from Glengarry Glen Ross carries a little more subtext. And subtext becomes just text at the 4:37 mark when he says, "Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids!" and so on and so forth.

Also, if you haven't seen this movie your life is incomplete until you do.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The TAN 25 Hip Hop Albums

Joey over at Straight Bangin' decided to try and compile a list of the Top 25 Greatest Hip Hop Albums. "Greatest" was eventually deemed too overblown with ulterior connotations and was changed to "Favorite" as hip hop bloggers began to send in their lists. Since the project was announced Passion of the Weiss has joined the accounting team to help crunch the numbers; Weiss has also posted a list with some of the other hip hop bloggers who are participating (Byron Crawford, Dallas Penn, Start Snitchin' to name three), and done some digging into those albums that didn't make his top 25 cut.

I hope to write more about some of these albums, hip hop's affinity for lists, and why some albums didn't make the cut, but for now, without further delay, here is the TAN 25.



1. Midnight Marauders - this album deserves a coronation ceremony as the greatest hip hop album of all time, it makes everyone's top ## list.

2. The Black Album - I would say all of Jay's value and worth is wrapped up in this album; I would argue it's the most important album since the turn of the century. There is a lot more to say about this one.

3. De La Soul Is Dead - The masterpiece from the hip hop artist's hip hop artists.

4. Like Water For Chocolate - Common's first three albums are all classic, but I submit this as his zenith, it's an album for just about any occasion.

5. Marshall Mathers LP - Its interesting how compartmentalized the Eminem era has become with more distance; nevertheless at his peak hip hop doesn't get any better.

6. Donuts - The most contemporary album to make the cut, Dilla's instrumental/beat opus is a perfect record for these iTimes.

7. Things Fall Apart - The Roots opus, if I had to give someone an album that would make them a fan of The Roots this is the one. I only wish the Badu/J. Scott live version of U Got Me from Chappelle's Block Party was on this album.

8. Mama Said Knock You Out - This is the album that makes LL stand for Living Legend. Arguably the most versatile mainstream emcee ever.

9. The Infamous - Prodigy's lyrical performance on this pushes it above and beyond. With their first two albums The Mobb helped usher in the street thug era as much as BIG and Jay did.

10. Muddy Waters - After a great debut, and an interesting artist statement with Dare Iz A Darkside, everything clicked on the third album, Reggie Noble's best.

11. 36 Chambers - The Wu debut is a no-brainer, and hasn't been surpassed by any of their members individually, or as a collective, since.

12. Liquid Swords - Well except that, for me, Wu Tang loses a lot of appeal if you don't include GZA. This is the quintessential emcee's album.

13. Illmatic - One intriguing revelation discovered in making this list is that I consider Liquid Swords and Illmatic about the same. I'd probably give Illmatic the edge for production variety, but then again that makes it less cohesive than Swords.

14. Paid In Full - Rakim was way ahead of the curve, this album has all his classic joints.

15. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick - The storyteller, the slick personality, and the voice. Slick Rick was always a uniquely refreshing emcee, and one of the few able to walk the thin line ... "Hey Young World" was the song other emcees could never do.

16. A Prince Among Thieves - This is my baby, the album that's least likely to be found on other lists. It's the ultimate concept album. Taken as individual parts, it wouldn't quite add up, but seen as a whole it may be the most beautiful and complete project hip hop has ever created. When we talk about the future, I think this album needs to be in the conversation. Surely Chris Rock thought so also when he purchased the rights for his film production company.

17. Long Live The Kane - Kane, a pantheon emcee; I'm not positive this his best, but I'll go with it, and he needs to be on here.

18. The Score - I suspect I like Lauren's album better, but I'm not sure that's hip hop enough. Fugees had a great formula, if one of the male emcees was better lyrically, they may have been the greatest of all time.

19. The Chronic - Dre changed the world with this one. Not as consistent as I'd like to remember, and wish I could combine this with selected joints from Doggystyle, but whatever.

20. Enta Da Stage - Classic east coast hip hop. The Beatminers pushed this one over the top.

21. Internal Affairs - Pharoahe is the most slept on. He does it all, and does it on this album.

22. Criminal Minded - KRS needs a slot, his albums can be inconsistent, but you can't go wrong with this one.

23. The Main Ingredient - PR and CL need to have a slot on my list, they held me down. I'm not positive this is better than the mecca and the soul brother, but its definitely not worse, and its not mentioned nearly as often. Mecca established them, but this album made them a household name in hip hop.

24. Takes A Nation of Millions ... - you can only go so far before mentioning this. Its lower on the list simply because everyone loves it, and I find it a little inconsistent, but if you're making a true "greatest" or "most important" this clearly vaults near the top.

25. Ready To Die/Straight Outta Compton - tie for the last slot. I think the first 4 or 5 joints on Straight Outta Compton are as good as it gets, but I don't ride it all the way through. And I don't jock BIG as much as everyone else, much rather have a collection of his assorted hits than either of his albums riding all the way through.

And there you have it, I think final numbers get crunched this week but if you want to submit a list, send it to me, or leave it in the comments, and I'll pass it on to Passion & Bangin' LLC.

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